SSAO and Aβ in the vascular damage of the temporal cortex from Alzheimer and Alzheimer with diabetes patients

Semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) is present in various mammalian tissues, such as vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, adipocytes, and as soluble form in blood plasma. SSAO is a multifunctional protein mediating inflammatory responses or glucose metabolism, through its amine-deaminating enzymatic activity. It has been involved in vascular endothelial damage, diabetes or Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we analyzed the expression of SSAO in human temporal cortex sections from AD, AD with diabetes, diabetic and nondemented controls. We found an exacerbation of vascular damage in the ADD patients correlated with the number of vessels stained with SSAO and double stained for SSAO and Aβ. Damaged vessels showed high levels of SSAO just as increased inflammatory and oxidative markers (COX-2 and SOD), and glial activation alongside them. Our results in temporal human cortex suggest by first time that high vascular SSAO levels may contribute to the vascular degeneration of AD patients and much more in patients with both pathologies: diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.